


The Search and the Song

by Shi_Toyu



Series: The FrostIron Collection [16]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Cultural Differences, Disney, Disney Songs, Language Barrier, M/M, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 12:58:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4961524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki has been waiting over a thousand years to hear a song from his soulmate...but now he can tell that something is wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Search and the Song

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Soulmates
> 
> For the sake of clarity, let me just go ahead and say that the AU here is that when your soulmate sings, you sing, too. Which, you can imagine, could lead to a NUMBER of crazy situations...none of which you will see here but ALL of which you will see in my next fic in this soulmate AU. (Though not in this story's universe.)

For centuries, Loki had waited desperately for the appearance of his soulmate. Frandal's appeared by the time he was four hundred, the blond bolting out an ode to the Three Sisters out of nowhere in the middle of a visit to the palace. Then it was like everyone was dropping like flies, their soulmates making themselves known one by one. Volstagg's first song had been one from the taverns, Sif's had been a warrior's chant, and Hogan's had been a healer's melody. The years passed, then decades, then centuries, until more than a thousand years had passed with not a single note from Loki's soulmate. His only solace, he supposed, was that Thor's soulmate hadn't revealing themself either.

When Loki's soulmate finally did make an appearance, the youngest prince had the misfortune of being in the middle of a hunt. The stag he'd been stalking with Thor and the Warrior's Three had sprung away at the first note that fell from Loki's lips. Despite the glares he received from the others, Loki couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face even as the singing continued.

"I wanna be where the people are. I wanna see, wanna see them dancing. Walking around on those-what do you call 'em? Oh-feet~!"

He wanted to sing back immediately, but knew it would only anger the others more. Instead he excused himself and raced back to the castle to lock himself away in his room before singing back one of the Old Songs, one speaking of love and destiny. He would not let his soulmate doubt for a second how Loki felt about him. With any luck, he might even be able to find his other half quickly, as Volstagg had. First, though, he'd have to figure out which realm his soulmate was on.

After that first song, there wasn't much contact. When his soulmate did sing he or she did so softly, barely anything more than a mumble. A couple times the song seemed to end abruptly and, even though Loki had no actual reason to think so, a cold feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach told him that it wasn't for a good reason. He worried for his soulmate, agonized over the many imagined plights his soulmate could be facing. It motivated him all the more to find his soulmate as soon as possible.

"Obviously, he or she isn't Aesir."

"Perhaps she's one of the Vanir, like Mother. I bet that's where my soulmate comes from."

Loki shot his brother a withering glance.

"Don't you pay attention to anything? Our soulmates waited over a thousand years to start singing. They're obviously from one of the peoples with lifespans much shorter than our own. And don't be so narrow minded. Either of our soulmates could be male, too, you know. Or not have a gender at all."

Thor grimaced.

"I think I should much rather my soulmate have a gender."

"What does it matter?" Loki sniffed in disdain. "They're your soulmate. I should think that would be more than enough."

Thor didn't look convinced, but Loki ignored him as he plotted ways to win Idunn's favor. He would be needing a golden apple from her at some point, after all.

"Capra, capretta, che bruchi tra l'erbetta, vuoi una manciatina di sale da cucina? Il sale e salato, il bumbo e nel prato, la mamma e alla fonte, il sole e sul monte, sul sonte e l'erbetta, capra, capretta!"

Loki smiled softly as the lullaby spilled across his lips. He wasn't entirely sure what a goat was, but this proved that his soulmate was a clever thing indeed. The All-Speak allowed Loki to communicate with any being from any race, but there were not many cultures who had it. His soulmate would have had to put work into learning multiple languages and he or she had clearly done so well. He just wished his soulmate would sing more often, give him more clues about how to find them.

Loki compiled his notes about what his soulmate sang meticulously. The first song hinted at the fact that his soulmate did not bear a standard form. Wherever he or she lived their species was the minority. And without feet? There'd been a brief mention of fins. Perhaps his soulmate was among one of the many aquatic species across the Nine Realms. That would certainly explain why the other had never come to find Loki despite him singing the songs of Asgard that he knew were known throughout the other realms.

He set out searching, traveling to different tribes and talking to members of the various cultures. No one knew of where his soulmate might be. None of them knew what a goat was or what language the lullaby had been sung in. It was driving Loki mad. All he wanted was to find his soulmate. He'd dealt with enough ridicule and scorn from his peers. He wanted someone he knew would stand by him.

"Off again, brother?"

Loki didn't turn to look at Thor as he settled his saddle bags across his stallion's back. His soulmate had been singing to him for nearly two decades by now and still he'd had no luck in finding him. Considering that his soulmate had begun singing songs of death and loss, Loki was feeling more desperate than ever.

"I have to find them."

"You've been neglecting your duties. Father is getting angry. He won't let this continue for much longer."

"Then I suppose I had best find them quickly, hadn't I? There aren't many places left to look but if I have to travel to Jotunheim then I will."

Thor drew back as if he'd been struck.

"You believe your soulmate could be one of those beasts?"

"Nay. I have studied the libraries and the languages of my mate are nothing similar to the Jotunar. But I will search there none the less if I must. For now, I head to Midgard."

Thor clapped one hand on his shoulder.

"I wish you the best of luck, my brother. I shall inform Mother of your departure."

Loki smirked as he swung up into the saddle.

"Oh, you needn't bother. She already knows."

Midgard, Loki quickly noticed, had changed a lot since he had been there last. Heimdal had set him down in the desert and he'd had to travel several miles to find a settlement. The huts that had existed the last time he'd visited were gone. In their places were building with lights and solid walls, even what had to be either crystal or glass. It certainly wasn't energy. The people themselves were dressed in a colorful range of fabrics and styles. He hailed one of them, an elderly gentleman with heavy boots and dirt-caked trousers.

"Greetings, sir. Pardon my intrusion but I am in search of someone of great import. Do the words 'capra, capretta' mean anything to you?"

The man sneered at him.

"Do I look like a fuckin' Mexican to you? You want that shit you better look across the border."

Loki glanced around, wondering exactly which border it was he needed to cross, but the man was gone by the time he turned back. Well, apparently the courtesy of these Midgardians had changed as well. The next person he approached simply pointed him in a southern direction. Mortals, he grimaced, how droll.

He was only a few hours ride from where he'd started when a small swarm of shiny, black...things about as tall as an Aesir and twice as long circled around him. Men spilled forth from inside, all dressed identically and wielding small metal objects that they pointed in Loki's direction.

"Halt!" a brunette man called.

Loki did. He hadn't noticed passing a border, but perhaps the borders here were like those the Fae used. Entirely unmarked.

"Is this Mexican?"

The man blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"I'm looking for Mexican. Someone told me it was in this direction."

"Mexico? As in the country?"

A mild-looking man placed his hand on the first man's shoulder, clearly telling him to stand down.

"Forgive our manners. I believe we've started off on the wrong foot here. My name is Agent Coulson, of SHIELD. Perhaps we can be of assistance to you."

"I am Loki, of Asgard, and I have come with a glorious purpose. If you could assist me in my task I would hold no reservation toward granting you my favor."

"Sounds interesting. I'd like to hear more about that, to be honest. What's your purpose here?"

Loki opened his mouth to respond only for something entirely unintended to spill forth.

"Goodbye so soon. And isn't this a crime? We know by now that time knows how to fly. So here's goodbye so soon. You'll find your separate way. With time so short I'll say so long and go. So soon. Goodbye."

"Ah," Coulson nodded his head in understanding. "The Great Mouse Detective. Good movie. Your soulmate has excellent taste."

Loki twisted to pull his collected notes from his saddle bags and pass them over.

"This is what I have been able to figure out so far."

It felt odd to trust another so readily with his notes, but Loki was not a fool. He knew Midgard had changed far too much for him to be able to comprehend its nuances with any kind of speed and his soulmate needed him. There was no time to waste. Local knowledge would be truly indispensable. Coulson flipped through the pages slowly, carefully reading each and every word. Somehow it actually make Loki feel better about trusting this stranger. He was clearly taking this seriously.

"I can certainly see how you came to the conclusions you have. I wish we were looking for someone with fins. That'd actually make this task much easier."

"How can you be certain?"

"That song's from a movie, too, about a girl with fins who wants to walk on land." He flipped through Loki's pages again. "Actually, it looks like you've got quite a Disney fan on your hands. The Italian songs are a twist, though. That will at least help narrow it down a little bit. If you were willing to come back to headquarters with us, one of our techs could probably throw together an algorithm to help us narrow down the possibilities."

Loki considered him for a long moment.

"If I find that you have deceived me in any way, I shall burn both you and this SHIELD of yours to the ground."

Coulson just kept right on smiling pleasantly.

"I'll keep that in mind."

The trip to their headquarters took several hours, leaving Loki feeling antsy and maltempered. He did not wish to waste so much time. He just hoped it paid off in the end.

"You're lucky it's a Tuesday," Coulson commented off-handedly. "He wouldn't be here otherwise. Hey, Stark! I've got a project for you. Should be enough of a challenge to keep even you entertained."

Yet another man, Loki had seen so many this day, popped out from behind a pile of metal constructs. He had smudges of a black substance across his face and tired eyes. His brunette hair was a mess, goggles perched right in the thick of it. Unlike the other men Loki had seen so far, he'd diverted from the uniform, wearing what looked like an undertunic and rough-hewn pants. Despite all that, and his short stature, he was perhaps the most stunning being Loki had ever seen.

"What do you want, Coulson?"

He sounded tired, too, exhausted even. Loki couldn't help but frown in concern.

"We need you to create an algorithm to find someone."

"Sure, sure. I can facial recognition software in my sleep."

"We don't have a face. Or a name."

The young man sighed and turned away from them, trudging over to a table and slumping into the chair. Moments later, blue lights sprang into the air in some sort of interface.

"Fascinating," Loki murmured reverently, gliding over to get a better look. "I have never seen magic such as this before."

"Not magic, science." The man, Stark, flickered his gaze over to Coulson. "Please don't tell me you guys hired a Strange knock-off."

"Mr. Loki is from another realm, actually."

Stark blinked before swiveling around to stare at Loki. The god felt oddly pleased by the sudden attention.

"Like an alien?"

"I am Aesir, the youngest son of Odin All-Father."

"Yeah, that means all of nothing to me. So what brings you here?"

"His soulmate, Mr. Stark, and we're going to help find them."

Stark stared at Coulson for a long moment.

"So basically you're demoting me to a glorified matchmaker. Do you have any idea how impossible that is? Do you know how many people are on Earth? And how many share similar attributes? People may say they're beautiful and unique snowflakes but they're not. They're made up of the same decaying organic matter as everyone else."

"Which is exactly why I brought this task to you. You're the only one even remotely capable of pulling this off."

The man glowered, but there was an edge of a pout to it that made Loki want to run his thumb over his lower lip.

"Fine." He didn't sound happy about it. "At least tell me you've got something for me to work with other than just hacking into every microphone on the planet and having tall, dark, and foreign over here treat us to some karaoke."

"He's taken notes."

At the agent's gesture, Loki passed them over.

"Capra Capretta? Looks like you've got yourself a good ol' Italian mate." He gave Loki a smile, the first since they'd walking in the door, and then it was washed off his face in a wave of pain. "My mother used to sing that to me all the time."

Loki frowned.

"Why does that make you sad? Were you and your mother not close?"

"No, no. Just the opposite. She, uh, both my parents passed away. Recently. A few months ago." He shifted awkwardly. "It doesn't matter. Let's just focus on your soulmate, yeah?"

Loki gently settled a hand on the man's shoulder, giving it just a hint of a squeeze. He had to remind himself to mind his strength with these mortals.

"Loss always matters, especially when you so clearly grieve for her still. What was her name? When I return to Asgard I shall seek a blessing on her soul from the Three Sisters, that they shall watch over her in her return to the great tree Yggdrasil."

The was a long moment of silence before, "Maria. Maria Carbonell Stark," was breathed into the air between them. Loki smiled softly.

"It will be done. You have my word. Stark is your surname?"

"Yeah. I'm Tony."

He reached forward with one hand, paused, then withdrew it and wiped the palm along the side of his pants before extending it again. Loki wasn't sure it was any cleaner for it. The god paid no mind as he grasped the other's wrist and gave it a firm shake.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Tony Stark. And I thank you for you assistance in this matter. I have been searching for my soulmate since they first sang for me, nearly two decades ago."

"Well, we'll find 'em. Don't you worry, tiger."

Tony turned back to his screens, glancing down at the notes and frowning more and more as the minutes passed. After about the first five, Coulson bid them farewell as he returned to other duties.

"Is something the matter?"

Tony startled as though he'd forgotten Loki was there.

"No, no, I just...You seem to be speaking English, but I find it hard to believe that an alien world would share the language."

Loki didn't believe that was actually Tony's concern, but he would humor the mortal.

"Ah, yes. It is the All-Speak, a gift among the Aesir and a few other species. All translations are done instantaneously, allowing us to communicate with any being across the Nine Realms."

"And your soulmate, would they be singing in English or whatever language your people use?"

Loki frowned in thought and cocked his head to one side.

"I must admit, I had not considered that. It would be in the language of the Aesir, I suppose. Your people would not know it."

Tony's hands were shaking just a bit, and Loki gave him another once-over with his eyes.

"Are you certain you're alright?"

"Yeah, just, just humor me for a sec, okay? Could you, I dunno, sing a couple lines of something real quick? I wanna test something."

Loki was no fool. He could put two and two together. He opened his mouth to sings the lines of the first ballad he'd sung for his soulmate all those years ago and Tony, miraculously, sang right along with him.


End file.
